Hiding In Plain Sight: Tower Bridge’s Secret History

Sure, it’s a London icon. But did you know Tower Bridge is hiding some secret history in plain sight?

To get to the mystery you have to take a closer look at the bright blue lampposts. Specifically the ones of the North bank, Tower of London side.

As you’re walking along the bridge, keep a close eyes on this line of lamps. One of them is an imposter!

Can you spot the odd one out?

The blue post on the right is nothing but a fraud. I’m sorry if this ruins the aesthetic for you, because once it’s spotted it can never be unseen!

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But why?

Tower Bridge was only opened in 1894 (younger than it looks right?) and those sneaky Victorians were attempting to disguise a cast-iron chimney.

It used to be connected to a coal fire in the Royal Fusiliers room, who could warm up there while on guard duty. But after the Clean Air Act of 1956 was passed – allowing only smokeless fuels to be burned in certain, central areas – the chimney went unused.

You can still get a sense of these rooms if you walk under the bridge today.

And you can spot the unique feature from the wharf too!

Now it’s above the Perkin Reveller, a restaurant named after the protagonist of Chaucer’s ‘Cooks Tale’ in the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is most famous as a poet today, but in his lifetime he was clerk of the King’s Works 1389-91 and was responsible for the construction of the Tower Wharf.